Iranian football icon Hassan Rowshan has criticized South African coach Pitso Mosimane for leaving Esteghlal Club midway through the season.
Mosimane, who joined the Iranian club in October 2024, struggled to improve the team’s performance. Reports suggested that the former Al Ahly manager had not been paid his salary and gave the club a two-week deadline to settle the outstanding payments for him and his staff. When the club failed to meet the deadline, Mosimane terminated his contract after just three months.
Rowshan expressed his disappointment with Esteghlal’s decision to hire Mosimane, arguing that they made a mistake in replacing Javad Nekounam with the South African coach. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Esteghlal made a mistake by firing Nekounam. They should have given him the chance to finish what he started and prove whether he could make them champions by the end of the season,” Rowshan told Mizan Online.
Rowshan further warned that if Esteghlal were to replace Sohrab with another foreign coach mid-season, they risk repeating the same issues. “There’s no top-quality foreign coach available mid-season because a good coach isn’t unemployed. If they rush into hiring another coach, they’ll just end up with another situation like Mosimane’s – someone coming in for the money, complaining, and ultimately leaving without delivering results,” Rowshan said.
He concluded by expressing frustration with the state of Iranian football, adding, “Our football has become so bad that an African coach comes in and leaves so easily. From the beginning, I’ve always stressed that we shouldn’t overhype someone and turn them into idols too quickly.”
Since leaving Al Ahly in 2022, Mosimane has coached four different teams in the Middle East, but his tenure with each of them has been short-lived, lasting no longer than a season.
